In partnership with AUJS and AZYC, we invite you to join us this Yom HaShoah, Thursday, April 24th, for an interactive commemoration. Experience the newly redeveloped museum, hear firsthand testimony from Holocaust survivor Dr. Henry Ekert AM, and participate in a meaningful discussion session.
Below is the schedule of events:
5:00 PM: Optional viewing of the “Everybody Had A Name” permanent exhibition.
6:00 PM – 6:45 PM: Formal program, including testimony from a Holocaust survivor.
7:00 PM – 7:45 PM: Breakout room discussion sessions.
Please select one session that interests you from the available options.
Note: As all sessions are held simultaneously, you may only attend one.
Session 1 – Never Again
What does “never again” mean in 2025, using the lessons learned from the Holocaust?
Session 2 – Connections
Share your personal Holocaust connection and reflect on how it impacts you today and shapes your future.
Session 3 – Preserving Memory
How do you preserve and memorialize your family’s Holocaust history?
We invite you to join us for the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Tuesday 28 January 2025.
This year’s event commemorates 80 years since the end of World War Two.
Please join us to hear three Holocaust survivors share their experiences of liberation and what liberation means to them. This panel discussion will be moderated by Dr Breann Fallon, MHM Head of Programming and Exhibitions.
Image | Simon Shiff
Gilah was born in the Netherlands in 1941. At the time of her birth, the Nazis had already taken control of the Netherlands. Gilah was 16 months old when her parents made the courageous decision to send her to live under an assumed identity with a non-Jewish family for her survival. The Zwanikken family looked after Gilah for two and a half years. Gilah often had to hide when guests came over and remained indoors to avoid suspicion. When she reunited with her biological parents after the war, she found it difficult to part with her foster family. Gilah maintained contact with them, even after her family and Gilah came to Australia in 1953.
Image | Simon Shiff
Peter Gaspar was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1937. He was four years old when Bratislava was occupied by the Nazis.
In June 1942 Peter was told by his teacher not return to school because he was Jewish. Peter and his parents went into hiding, spending nights anywhere they could find. For several days during the winter of 1944 they slept in dugout the size of a grave.
Peter fell ill and with no other option, the family turned themselves in. Peter and his mother were separated from his father and sent to Terezin concentration camp, where they were imprisoned for five months. They were liberated on 8 May 1945.
Peter arrived in Australia in 1949.
Image | Simon Shiff
Eve was born in 1939 in Czechoslovakia and survived the Holocaust in hiding, as did her parents. After the war ended, the family went to Trebisov but they eventually migrated to Australia in fear that the Communist regime would pose a threat to their safety. Eve and her parents arrived in Melbourne in 1949.
Eve married, had a successful career as a teacher and has a daughter, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Join the Melbourne Holocaust Museum and the Lodz Committee in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Lodz Ghetto.
The Landsmanshaftn were societies of Jewish immigrants who came from the same town or region in Eastern Europe. They were named for the members’ original birthplaces. They were formed to assist their fellow ‘townspeople’ in settling into their new lives in Australia. This assistance – material, emotional, cultural, and social – helped many new arrivals to begin their acclimatisation to life in their new country.
By 1949, numerous attempts had been made to form a Lodzer Landsmanshaft. In 1953 an initiating committee was formed with the aim of calling a general meeting of Melbourne Jews from the Polish city of Lodz and organising an evening to commemorate the memory of their annihilated community.
Today’s Lodz Committee consists of second and third generation descendants. As the years pass by and we have fewer of our precious survivors with us, we realise the importance of involving the younger generations in helping us remember the Lodzers who called Melbourne their home. Today we remember and honour Jewish Lodz, and its inhabitants, the last embers of a once glorious and vibrant community.
This year’s program includes Honouring six of our Lodz Ghetto survivors with a special candle lighting ceremony. Reflections of 80 years since the Lodz Ghetto Liquidation by Lodz Ghetto Survivors, Mrs Guta Goldstein and Mr Abe Goldberg OAM. Music by Sholem Aleichem Students.
Light refreshments will be provided after the commemoration.
Join the Cracow Memorial Committee for the 81st anniversary commemoration of the liquidation of the Kraków ghetto.
Commemorate the tragic events of March 13th and 14th, 1943, when the Kraków ghetto was liquidated.
Honor the memory of the pre-war Jewish community that perished during the Holocaust.
Celebrate the resilience of life over death—the victory of survival and remembrance.
This solemn event serves as a bridge between generations now living in Melbourne, ensuring that the memory of those lost remains alive and that the lessons of history continue to resonate.
We invite you to join us for the commemoration of Yom HaShoah on Monday 6 May 2024.
This year we will host a panel discussion moderated by MHM CEO Dr Steven Cooke. We look forward to hearing from our three panellists, Rachelle Unreich, Anita Lester and Adam Butt, who will share their lived and professional experience of taking on the custodianship of memory. The evening will explore how we can all carry the lessons of the Holocaust into the future and will seek to understand how, in a world threatened by increasing misinformation, distortion and denial, we can bring truth to the forefront.
Image | Simon Shiff
PhD, University of Bristol
Dr Steven Cooke has over 30 years’ experience in the cultural heritage sector across both museums and academia. An internationally recognised expert on the memorialisation of the Holocaust, Steven has published extensively on both the historical evolution of Holocaust museums and memorials, and new approaches to sharing Holocaust survivor testimony. His exceptional work has led the Australian Government to appoint him to the Australian delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, where he represents Australia on the Memorials and Museums Working Group.
From 2002 until 2011 Steven held leadership positions at some of Australia’s most significant cultural heritage sites, including the Shrine of Remembrance. From there, he transitioned into academia where he worked at Deakin University as an Associate Professor and Course Director for the Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies postgraduate programs, helping inspire the next generation of museum professionals.
In 2020 he was the lead investigator on the landmark Gandel Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness in Australia Survey.
Steven believes passionately about the role Holocaust museums can play in educating the whole community about the dangers of racism and antisemitism and in working towards a more cohesive and respectful society.
Rachelle Unreich started her journalism career when she was completing her Arts/Law degrees at Monash University. In addition to studying writing at UCLA, she has lived in New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Melbourne. She has been a journalist for 38 years, writing cover stories for The Age, Harper’s Bazaar, marie claire, Rolling Stone and others, and has had regular columns in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Herald Sun and Elle magazine. Her work has appeared extensively in Australia, the US, UK and South-East Asia. She currently lives in Melbourne. A Brilliant Life is her debut.
Anita Lester, a multidisciplinary artist from Melbourne, Australia, is celebrated not only for her music but also as an award-winning painter, filmmaker, poet, and illustrator.
She gained recognition through her solo EP “Erato,” released in March 2020 amidst uncertain times. Tracks such as “Wrong Time” and her cover of Leonard Cohen’s “You Want it Darker” found resonance, featuring in film and television, including ‘The Walking Dead’. Her debut album ‘The Clown’, released in March 2023.
In the realm of film, her short ‘Noch Am Leben (I’m Still Alive)’ garnered acclaim at over 50 festivals worldwide, becoming a fixture in Holocaust and Jewish museums globally. Her debut feature ‘Song of Songs’, announced in 2023, further solidifies her impact on cinema.
Anita’s paintings, characterized by their technical skill and mythological themes, have earned praise, with notable works including a portrait of Flea from the ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers’ and a series depicting Holocaust survivors currently set for exhibit in 2025.
Her literary contributions extend to poetry, storytelling, and collaborations such as Arnold Zabel’s upcoming children’s book ‘The Glass Horse of Venice’, set for release in 2024.
Anita Lester’s art is deeply rooted in storytelling, intertwining themes of love, longing, hope, and Jewish culture across her various creative endeavors.
Adam Butt is a barrister who specializes in international arbitration, commercial litigation and human rights law. He has acted on numerous international investment and commercial arbitrations with seats in Europe, Asia, Australia, North America and the Caribbean. He acts on complex human rights and commercial cases and regularly leads teams in Federal and state Supreme Courts, in cases both for and against the Crown. Adam has won major native title and Aboriginal land claim disputes across Australia, in addition to significant claims brought under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth). This has included claims concerning antisemitism including the Brighton Secondary case, Kaplan v State of Victoria. Currently Adam acts on several cases which involve racial discrimination and related matters, including claims concerning antisemitism and issues of discrimination against Indigenous Australians. During 2020 to 2023, Adam was a finalist each year in Australia’s Lawyers Weekly Barrister of the Year Award, including winning the Award in 2021. Adam’s late grandmother, Rose Butt, was one of the founding volunteer of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.